Norwegian Jade Cruise Reviews - Reviews

i have been to Rome ,,,Naples...Athens ,,,, ephious two times before this trip

but never to istanbul ...... istanbul was fantastic so clean so many historic things to see and so many things to do

Norwegian jade  cruise ship was a extremely good experience

it had better entertainment than Celebrity and Holland America cruise lines and was very customer friendly with its ship lounge and activity areas it didnt have the upscale facilities of Celebrity or some other cruise lines like cloth towels in public restroom but who cares it have a more freindly layout and active and fun areas and great food if you do the specialty restaurants better than other cruise lines

only 2 negatives very small stateroom bathroom smallest i have had in 14 other cruises and very crowded buffet eating area probably because they offer more variety than other cruise line

other than that Norwegian jade cruise ship was super

We took this cruise with our two kids ages 4 and 7 and really enjoyed ourselves. This was our second time cruising with Norwegian. Our kids loved being at the Splash Academy and the staff there do a really great job with the kids. We highly recommend you get the dining and beverage package, it is worth it to dine at the specialty restaurants. We did not give this cruise 5 stars due to the entertainment being not what we expected. We thought the entertainment on our previous Norwegian cruise was better.

The destinations for the cruise are amazing, with deep traditions and beautiful cultures.

The cruise itself was excellent. The crew was awesome from the kitchen staff, to the porters and the staff handling kid activities.

I highly recommend that you take the plunge and book a cruise on the Norwegian Jade.

Staff were coughing on the restaurant, therefore, passengers got sick. by the end of the cruise there were too many people coughing. We notice the AC ducts were not clean and rooms smell like dust were in the air. The carpet in hallways and rooms smell like dust too. 

I got intoxicated with the food I ate at the last dinner on the cruise and like at 3am I woke up with my face swallow, my husband went with me to look for the doctor and the nurse told me if I was ready to pay $200 plus medicine, the doctor will see me. Even though I was like that because the food was bad, the people at the cruise took no responsibility of it or have any courtesy to evaluate what happened. 

That ship with all the sick (coughing) staff and passengers shouldn't kept going straight from one trip to the next one without taking care of what was going on with the health of staff and passengers.

Not a big fan of the freestyle dining. Seems crowded with to much continual coming and going. Buffet variety of food was a little disappointing. Cabin was great. Service was very good.

My husband and I just returned from an 11 day Western Mediterranean cruise in NCL Jade.  We loved the itinerary and the ship itself.  We highly recommend this cruise.

The only saving grace regarding this cruise was its itinerary and price. Otherwise, this rating would be much lower. Eight stops over an 11-day time period with only two days at sea was extraordinary. Although, there were some stops that were much better than others which is typically the case. The service aboard the Jade, and in particular in the main dining areas, was lacking.  This is the direct result of an organizational change that has removed the Head Waiter from a previous team of three and replaced them with another Maitre D'.  Thus, the service team has been reduced to a team of two with the same amount of tables.  Many times, drinks from the bar were delayed, in addition to the wait staff not being able to spend personable time in getting to know their staff.  If you do happen to find a good waiter or waitress make sure that they are requested every time that you attend dinner.  In our case, we requested Maddlyn Padilla in the Grand Princess dining area who was EXCELLENT. In addition, the execution of ship policies was extremely inconsistent at the different bars. We had the Ultimate All You can Drink package in which case only one drink at a time could be ordered on a ship card at a time whereas at other bars they honored up to four drinks for our entire group at a time.  Instead of disputing the inconsistent use of the rules, we simply agreed to whatever was requested by either the bartender or the waiter.  The ships' on board was poor.  We only attended four of the evening's shows in the Stardust Theatre the entire cruise.  The best show of all was the Tenors of Power which is not to be missed.

Norwegian "got it right" with freestyle dining and smooth boarding and debarking, but let's see if they are willing to take the next step and make "freestyle excursions" or at least–"freestyle information"–a part of there signature. So far, my experience with all cruise ships has been the same when it comes to helpful information for shore excursions: The "suits" are rude if you ask them about shore information. They say:  "No information" unless you sign up for a "ship" excursion. But here's the deal, to many of us, "freestyle excursions" are the most important part of the trip. Like others, I spent a lot of time researching, reading, checking Trip Advisor, and watching videos etc. but I needed a city map of each port which was not attainable until I left the ship. Norwegian could take a step forward and have those maps available on board, or at the very least, they could have one "displayed" so people could look at them the night before reaching each port. I realize the cruise is trying to sell "their" excursions, but I they would sell more once some people see the difficulty in getting around. Those of us determined to walk would be happy to see the layout of the city in advance so we could plan ahead. It's a small request that would go a long way. If you want five stars, offer what no one else does: "Freestyle Information."

The crew was the best thing about this trip. I've never met such friendly, competent people. Also, the entertainment blew us away. It was over and above anything we expected to find on a boat. We also really loved the food. We thought the buffet had higher quality food than pretty much any other buffet we've eaten at. The food in the complimentary dining rooms was about on par with the buffet (though the wait staff was exceptional). Since we had children with us we ate mostly at the buffet. Our little kids loved the splash academy and we appreciated the fun activities they got to do there. Our older child got a bad first impression of the teen club, Entourage, and wouldn't go back. (He was scolded by a counselor because of an innocent misunderstanding). The ports of call were a great way to see places we didn't want to ride trains through (Greece and Turkey). The weather was on and off but overall for that time of year we felt lucky. Our family's first cruise was a success!

Stateroom, mini-suite, spacious and comfortable. Cabin steward attentive and courteous.

Food in specialty restaurants good, but not a lot of variety.

Entertainment not very good. Poor production shows

Service acceptable, friendly but not overly effecient

This was our 3rd Norwegian cruise and first time on the Jade.  This reminded us why we enjoy Norwegian cruises. The Freestyle way of doing things is the way to go!. Embarkation was a breeze, debarkation was even easier. We chose to depart at the end of the cruise taking our own bags with us and it was the most pleasant experience of leaving a cruise we have ever had.  Getting off the ship on port days was also very easy. We never had to wait in a long line to leave the ship. We only did 2 shore excursions through the cruise line and were extremely happy with the way we were treated like adults and the meeting points for the tours were actually off the ship so we didn't have to spend extra time waiting in a lounge or the theatre for the entire group to show up so that we could all be herded off the ship at the same time. This has been an experience on other cruise lines that is an annoyance and waste of time.

We had the Ultimate Dining Package and Ultimate Beverage Package which also added to our enjoyment of this cruise. We chose to eat in a specialty restaurant each evening and our favourites were LeBistro and Cagneys. We used the buffet for breakfast most mornings and although it can get a bit chaotic because there are heaps of people in there, we found that we could carry our plates and sit in the restaurant that is LaCucina at night and avoid the crowds in the seating area of the buffet.  Because of the port intensive itinerary we only had lunch on board during sea days. The Blue Lagoon hit the spot for us during lunch as it was not overly crowded and the table service was a nice bonus.

We had an aft balcony cabin (not a suite) and were very happy with the choice. Great views and adequate size balcony and cabin for 2 people.  We were surprised there were actually 2 other beds in the cabin (a convertible 2 seater sofa and a small bed that comes down from the ceiling). In my opinion, the room would be quite crowded with 4 people in it.

Our cabin steward, Joseph, was really good and made us smile with his great towel animals every night.

The cruise director, Archie, was quite entertaining and "everywhere". I don't know how he ever gets any rest as we saw him at so many of the activities!

Norwegian shore excursions: We did the night cruise on the Bosphorus. Our meeting point was just outside of the exit at the terminal in Istanbul Because we were there in early March, it was COLD! We stayed on the top deck to get great photos & were happy we were rugged up with gloves, scarves, beanie caps and heavy jackets. The scenery was beautiful and it was an experience we will never forget. There were only about 30 of us on the entire boat, so it was not crowded.

We also did the Naples Herculaneum tour through the cruise line. The guide was good and explained many of the things we saw. It was a pretty big group and would have been more enjoyable with less people in the group. There was a stop at a Cameo "factory" sales showroom on the way back to the boat.

A wonderful cruise. Wish we were back on the ship right now!

The employees and staff are the most untrained and uninformative individuals  that we have encountered with Norwegian. The food was very bland and tasteless and food servers are lacking in orientation training. I believe it is a lack of management problem. Poor management

Food was great.....especially in the specialty restaurants. Cagney restaurant had "melt in your mouth" filets.   Service was superb.  Ports of call were very interesting.  A wonderful experience.

Great first time trip to Greece and Turkey.  Could spend a week or more in Istanbul alone.  We did learn that weather in that part of the world can be unpredictable, just like back in the states.  We had to skip one port in Greece due to high waves in the port.  One nice thing about NCL was that any time a port was missed the captain had staff hand out free rum punches for about an hour.  Nice little extra that other cruise lines could learn from.

Found this cruise on sale -- unbelievable price for a penthouse with large balcony -- and couldn't resist.  What a great decision.  This large stateroom came with butler and concierge service, priority embarkation/debarkation and overall fantastic service.  Also got free Ultimate Beverage Package, Ultimate Dining Package and several hundred dollars onboard credit with this offer. 

We had sailed on the Jade out of Rome last year and enjoyed the ship.  No disappointment this time either. 

Always looked forward to afternoon hors d'oeuvres/snacks left in our stateroom by our butler. 

We had no criticisms of any of the service onboard.  Great attitude by all crew!

The ship was immaculate, attentive but not annoying staff, food good to very good in the dining room, good in the buffet( too much chais, not enough seating), the ports were wonderful, the captain in bad weather did an excellent job keeping balance ont he ship and maximizing better weather.  My only complait.....NCL needs to be helpful in either giving FREE shuttles to the heart of the townsd they advertise visiting.

The Jade is an older ship that is still decorated for Hawaii -- rather gaudy for the Mediterranean.  However, the food was good (just no lobster), shows great, and ports exceptional.  Since the weather was cool, everyone stayed inside on "at sea" days.  The Card Room really needs to be restocked with games as there were very few available.  Movies and crafts (which most other ships no longer offer) were fun.  When the weather was too rough to go to Palermo, the captain sent many waiters around distributing free rum punch for about an hour.  The NCL excursions were very nice as long as you can understand English.  All in all, it was a very wonderful trip.

The Jade is a nice ship. Although the ship is in need of a makeup, i recommend the ship for those who are looking to experience different restaurants, itineraries and first timers. With regards to service, it can be improved. Especially if you have been on other cruise lines i.e.RCI, there are some noticeable differences in service. I like the itineraries on this cruise as I had not been to Turkey before. I also enjoy the ability to book a tour on my own with the cruise ship providing the transportation only. This was especially good for my party as two of my companions did not speak English, and would have been a waste of money had we booked a full tour. Other languages were available, but not in Portuguese.

I would definitely return to the Jade if they end up on different itineraries in the future.

I really enjoyed this cruise. Myself and husband went along with my mom. The room was wonderful and loved the 2bed/bath setup with the living space. The bathroom was absolutely wonderful in the master and the balcony was great too. Our room number was 11006. The service was exceptional. We had a personal butler and concierge which really came in handy with getting things handled apart from the masses. Definitely worth the extra money. The private breakfast/lunch dining experience was great as well.

The negatives I will say as far as food was the pizza service. I have done Princess cruise line and their pizza is top notch. Very disappointed that you have to pay for this rubberized pizza when it comes standard on Princess cruises. Another negative was the sound between the master and 2nd room. You can hear everything and the wall is very thin.  Other than this within the suite the noise was not bad at all.

Positives: The entertainment was top notch! Compared to Princess Cruise Line, it was extremely well. I enjoyed most shows and they were worth attending. Another benefit to being in a suite is the VIP seating which really came in handy when the general seating became crowded.

The excursions were amazing as well for the most part. We went on all excursions and the tour guides were pretty knowledgeable. 

If you decide to cruise with NCL I would 100% recommend a suite. Your experience will be 100xs better and the amenities pay for themselves.

Norwegian went above and beyond to make my 10 day cruise fantastic. The food was excellent, entertainment the best, cabin outstanding but the service & smiles of all staff made it the best cruise ever!